Lars Johnsson wrote:
If you like strange, funky bokeh on your shots the 50/1,4 is really nice
The bokeh is not that bad but wide open or close to wide open and a shorter distance it can look very strange

That's right, close up and near wide open this is this lens' weak spot. Further away or stopped down a bit it can be really awesome. It is a bit special, but so is the 50MP.

By the way, what is the trend for the ZE/ZF/ZF2 50/1.4? I often read it is a good performer but its 'bokeh' is not pretty... I am wondering to get one but am still hesitating.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Hey, Thomas, thank you very much.

As for the bokeh, Lars gave you an excellent example of what it is people complain about. It's got the right idea on light dispersion in the OOF areas, but it's global contrast is too strong to give it the smooth, watercolor-like performance of a lower contrast lens, like that of the Summilux-R or Nikon AIS, in a medium-to-high contrast lighting scenario with a busy background. In a studio setting with controlled lighting a solid-color or low-contrast painted backdrop, it's very well behaved wide open at close distances. It's not blazing sharp at that aperture, so it will even be kind to your older subjects.

Take it outside or shoot in less-controlled indoor conditions, I'd stop it down or give myself some working room. It's sharper wide open at distances of about 3m or so, and the bokeh isn't anywhere near so distracting (Martin has an excellent example of this). The nice thing about stopping down with the lens is that the shape of your bokeh doesn't deviate much at all from perfectly round, so even stopped down to f/2, the bokeh of the lens is much more comparable to a native f/2 lens shot wide open than that of most 50/1.4s stopped down to f/2.

Paul,
Thanks.I think our style of photography is similar.Your stunning Zeiss 3D shots that you have posted on this site have inspired me and i try to get that same look in my shots.That's why i always look forward to your posts.
-Jim